'Jurassic Park' returns in glorious 3D

Wednesday

Apr 3, 2013 at 5:38 PM

I still remember sitting in a theater, a wide-eyed 6-year-old, thrilled beyond words watching "Jurassic Park" for the first time in 1993.

BY MATTHEW LUCASCorrespondent

I still remember sitting in a theater, a wide-eyed 6-year-old, thrilled beyond words watching "Jurassic Park" for the first time in 1993.Two weeks ago, sitting in my press screening of "Jurassic Park 3D," 20 years from its initial release, I felt very much like that excited little kid again. The dinosaurs, the chases, John Williams' soaring score, I was instantly transported not only back to my childhood, but on one of cinema's grandest adventures. I've watched the film many times since, but even so I was struck by how well the special effects have held up, even under the scrutiny of the 3D conversion. Twenty years later and I still don't think what Steven Spielberg did here has ever been surpassed. Computer animation was still in its infancy, but Industrial Light and Magic revolutionized the medium, and through a seamless combination of models and CG effects, created living, breathing dinosaurs. Spielberg has always been one of the foremost purveyors of well crafted populist entertainments, but "Jurassic Park" remains one of his finest achievements. There is a magic at work here that is completely hard to resist, hearkening back to "Jaws" in its suspenseful efficiency. The story is a simple one; a wealthy entrepreneur creates a theme park on an island off the coast of Costa Rica, populated by dinosaurs brought to life through complex DNA cloning, and brings a group of scientists down for a weekend to assess the park before it opens to the public. Things go horribly wrong, of course, and when the island loses power the dinosaurs escape their fences and wreak havoc upon the human visitors.Based on the novel by Michael Crichton, the film version cuts down somewhat on his more scientifically minded explorations of the ethical questions raised by the idea of cloning extinct animals, but the ideas are certainly still there. Spielberg's is ultimately a more optimistic vision, and the result is a timeless adventure for both the young and the young at heart.It's certainly possible that nostalgia has clouded my ability to judge this film objectively, but I don't think it has lost any of its charm in the two decades since its release. Spielberg is a born entertainer, and "Jurassic Park" showcases him at the peak of his abilities. I'm not usually a fan of 3D conversions, but this one is quite possibly the best one I've seen yet, lacking the usual shimmery shadow effect that can be so distracting at times in conversions like this one. Even for those who, like me, don't particularly care for 3D, seeing "Jurassic Park" on the big screen again is worth it. The t-rex is louder than ever, the brachiosaurs more graceful, the velociraptors more terrifying – and now the film will be able to be discovered by a whole new generation of wide-eyed children who never got to experience it the way it was meant to be seen — sitting in a darkened theater, watching in wonder as all their childhood dreams come to life on the big screen. "Jurassic Park" is just as magical now as it was 20 years ago — a true modern classic that shouldn't be missed.Matthew Lucas, a former Davidson County resident, studied theater and film studies at Appalachian State University. He now resides in Banner Elk and has a blog where he posts movie news, reviews and commentary at www.fromthefrontrow.net.